The Federal Government announced the establishment of the Entrepreneurs’ Infrastructure Programme (EIP), with funding of $484.2 million over 5 years. The objective of the EIP is to improve the business capabilities of Australian small to medium enterprises to make them more competitive on the world stage. 

Changes to the regulations under the Retirement Villages Act 1986 will come into operation on 1 July 2014 relating to contracts and disclosure requirements for Retirement Villages in Victoria. 

The anti-bulling jurisdiction of the Fair Work Commission (FWC) has now been in place for over 4 months, and the first decision ruling on the merits of an application has been handed down.

 The hearing of the application was conducted in private, and the names of the parties and individuals involved were kept anonymous in the published decision.  In that decision, the FWC rejected a manager’s claim for anti-bullying orders, finding that there was insufficient evidence there had been repeated unreasonable behaviour towards the applicant, or that any unreasonable behaviour had created a risk to health and safety.

When recommending a structure to conduct a business or hold an investment, advisors should consider a number of issues, primarily the income taxation consequences of the structure, the ability to access applicable capital gains tax reliefs upon a sale of a capital appreciating asset, the asset protection benefits of the recommended structure and how the structure works to ensure that control of the asset passes to the next generation upon death in a succession plan.  Legal and accounting advisors routinely recommend a discretionary trust structure for these purposes. However, it is important to highlight the difficulties that a discretionary trust structure poses in planning for succession and how those difficulties are best addressed.

In light of the review of the PPS Act that is currently underway, we seek your input on how the PPS regime has impacted on your business so that we can better represent the interests of SMEs in the review process.

The second round of changes set out in the federal government’s Living Longer Living Better aged care reform package will commence on 1 July 2014.

The reforms aim to provide more choice, easier access and better care. However, there are concerns that many retirees will end up paying more for their admission to and ongoing care in aged care facilities, due to the changes in the way daily care fees will be means tested.  

Arguably not since the introduction of GST has there been a more urgent need for businesses to review and revise their business practices, procedures and documentation than now.  With the recent commencement of the Personal Property Securities Register under the Personal Property Securities Act (PPS Act), businesses need to take proactive steps to protect their businesses.

On 27 June 2013, the first major decision in Australia in regard to the Personal Property Securities Act 2009 (Cth) was handed down in the New South Wales Supreme Court.  The decision in the case of Maiden Civil v QES [2013] NSWSC 852 is a powerful illustration that possession can trump ownership if you do not register your interest in goods on the Personal Property Securities Register (PPS Register).